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Punky Brewster (TV Show)
Punky Brewster is an American sitcom about a girl named Punky Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye) being raised by her foster parent (George Gaynes).2 The show ran on NBC from September 16, 1984 to March 9, 1986, and again in first-run syndication from October 30, 1987 to May 27, 1988. Punky Brewster spawned an animated spin-off It's Punky Brewster. The series featured the original cast voicing their respective characters. The cartoon was produced by Ruby-Spears, and aired on NBC from September 14, 1985 to December 6, 1986. Punky brewster piano lesson.jpg Synopsis Punky Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye) is a warm, funny and bright child. Her father walked out on her family, then her mother abandoned her at a Chicago shopping center, leaving Punky alone with her dog Brandon. Afterwards, Punky discovered a vacant apartment in a local building.3 The building is managed by photographer Henry Warnimont (George Gaynes), an elderly widower who is something of a grouch. Punky quickly became friends with Cherie Johnson (played by Herself, the niece of series creator David W. Duclon), a young girl who lived upstairs in Henry's building with her grandmother, Betty Johnson (Susie Garrett), who worked as an RN at the local Cook County Hospital. Henry discovers Punky in the empty apartment across from his, and hears her story.3 The relationship between the two blossoms, despite red tape from social workers (who ultimately rally to Henry's side). As their day in court approaches, the state forces Punky to stay at Fenster Hall, a shelter for orphaned and abandoned children, which makes her realize how close she has grown to Henry. Finally, their day arrives, and the court approves Henry to become Punky's foster dad. Later on, Henry legally adopts her.4 Punky's other friends are geeky Allen Anderson (Casey Ellison) and stuck-up rich girl Margaux Kramer (Ami Foster). During the NBC run, Punky's teachers were regularly seen; in the first season, cheerful Mrs. Morton (Dody Goodman) and in the second season, hip Mike Fulton (T.K. Carter). Mike formed a close relationship with Punky and her friends, and was also portrayed as a social crusader of sorts. Also in the first season, Margaux's socialite mother, played by Loyita Chapel, appeared on a recurring basis, as did kooky maintenance man in the Warnimont building named Eddie Malvin (Eddie Deezen), who only showed up in the first several episodes. Beginning in 1984, NBC aired the sitcom on Sundays. Because the show had many young viewers and was scheduled after football games (which tended to run long), six fifteen-minute episodes were produced. This was done rather than joining a full-length episode in progress, so as not to disappoint children watching the program.5 Punky Brewster Cast.jpg Season 2 The second season's February 2, 1986 episode, introduced the first installment of a five-part storyline. In the five-part episode "Changes", Henry's downtown photography studio was destroyed in a fire, and it seemed for a time that he would not be able to recover from its aftermath and resume his career. As a result of his stress, Henry ended up hospitalized for a bleeding ulcer. During this time, Betty and Cherie made arrangements for Punky to stay with them until Henry recovered. Everyone's stability was halted when bureaucratic social worker Simon P. Chillings (guest star Timothy Stack) showed up, found out about Henry's condition and ultimately deemed the worst: not only did he find Betty unsuitable to care for Punky in the meantime (because she was a single woman with long working hours, already raising her granddaughter), but he felt that Henry was unfit to be her legal guardian in the long term, due to his health, age, and uncertain financial future. Chillings made Punky a ward of the state yet again, and she returned to Fenster Hall. Despite Punky's efforts to escape from Fenster, a trick pulled by Margaux in which she dressed up and pretended to be Punky, and advocacy from Mike Fulton, Chillings ended up placing Punky with a new foster family, the fabulously wealthy Jules and Tiffany Buckworth (Robert Casper and Joan Welles), the latter of whom did not take to Punky's playful, more working-class ways well at all. Things gradually returned to normal though, as Henry was back on his feet following surgery, opened up a glitzy new studio at the local mall and therefore was able to reunite with Punky. At the conclusion of the story arc, Henry officially adopted Punky.6 Andy Gibb guest-starred twice on Punky: once as himself, hosting a pre-teen beauty pageant; and once as a music instructor hired by Henry for Punky who persuades the young man to go out for a recording contract. They run afoul of a con artist instead; Henry, suspecting this man is up to no good, pretends to be trying to break into the music business. When the con man repeats the same words to Henry that he said to the music teacher, he is exposed as a fraud, and the teacher thanks Henry by giving Punky several free lessons. The final episode of the second season was notable for centering on the very recent, real-life Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Punky and her classmates watched the live coverage of the shuttle launch in Mike Fulton's class. After the accident occurred, Punky is traumatized, and finds her dreams to become an astronaut are crushed. She writes a letter to NASA, and is visited by special guest star Buzz Aldrin.7 Although the episode received high ratings, NBC would, in the following weeks, decide to cancel the show.8 Cast *'Soleil Moon Frye' as Penelope "Punky" Brewster *'Sandy' as Brandon "the Wonder Dog" *'George Gaynes' as Henry Warnimont *'Susie Garrett' as Betty Johnson *'Cherie Johnson' as Herself *'Ami Foster' as Margaux Kramer *'Casey Ellison' as Allen Anderson (1984–1987) *'Eddie Deezen' as Eddie Malvin (1984) *'Dody Goodman' as Mrs. Morton (1984–1985) *'Loyita Chapel' as Mrs. Kramer (1984–1985) *'T. K. Carter' as Michael 'Mike' Fulton (1985–1986) Episodes Main article: List of Punky Brewster Episodes. Theme Song I Turn Around. Category:Lists Category:Shows